An Evangelical Christian Perspective

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Hope

Hope: A trusting expectation that God is going to keep His word. Author Unknown

If it were not for hopes, the heart would break. Thomas Fuller

Hope in God’s promises, therefore, is not a wishful longing but a faith-filled confidence for the future. It is simply impossible to trust one of God’s promises and not anticipate its coming true. To know God is to trust Him. And to trust God is to trust His promises. And to trust God’s promises is to be sure of their fulfillment. This assurance concerning the future, anchored in God’s promises, is what the Bible calls “hope.” Scott Hafemann

The word hope I take for faith; and indeed hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith. John Calvin

Despondency does not become a prince, much less a Christian. Our God is “THE GOD OF HOPE”; and we should hope in Him. [We] should hope in His mercy, in His patience, in His provision, in His plenteous redemption. [We] should hope for light in darkness; for strength in weakness; for direction in perplexity; for deliverance in danger; for victory in conflict; and for triumph in death. James Smith

Do not look to your hope, but to Christ, the source of your hope. C.H. Spurgeon

Every Christian who struggles with depression struggles to keep their hope clear. There is nothing wrong with the object of their hope – Jesus Christ is not defective in any way whatsoever. But the view from the struggling Christian’s heart of their objective hope could be obscured by disease and pain, the pressures of life, and by Satanic fiery darts shot against them… All discouragement and depression is related to the obscuring of our hope, and we need to get those clouds out of the way and fight like crazy to see clearly how precious Christ is. John Piper

Hope is called the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19), because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a “wish” (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made. R.C. Sproul

Hopelessness in not a physical problem; it is spiritual. It has lost sight of God’s kingdom purposes that use even suffering to accomplish His ends. Edward Welch

If you are hopeless, there may be many contributors, but two are certain:

You have placed your hope in something other than God…and it has let you down.

You may understand that Jesus conquered death, but you live as though He is still in the grave. All hopelessness is ultimately a denial of the resurrection. Ed Welch

Christian hope, biblical hope is “a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future.” And from that definition we can see three things that must be true about something if it indeed is to be the object of biblical hope.

What we hope for must be something good.

What we hope for must be in the future.

What we hope for must be certain, not doubtful, so that our expectation of its coming to pass may be confident, not wavering. Steve Roy

Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath; it is called “the rejoicing of hope” (Hebrews 3:6). William Gurnall

Hope is a waking dream. Augustine

Without Christ there is no hope. Charles Spurgeon

He that lives in hope dances without music. George Herbert

In our sad condition our only consolation is the expectancy of another life. Martin Luther

Every thing that is done in the world is done by hope. Martin Luther

Jesus gives us hope because He keeps us company, has a vision and knows the way we should go. Max Lucado

Hope is called the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19), because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a ‘wish’ (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made. R.C. Sproul

Do not look to your hope, but to Christ, the source of your hope. Charles Spurgeon

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us. Samuel Smiles

Faith goes up the stairs that love has made and looks out of the windows which hope has opened. Charles Spurgeon

As long as there are hearts full of passion that embrace the face of fear, there will always be hope amidst great opposition and staggering apathy. Chilly Chilton

I hope everybody can find a little flame Me, I say my prayers, then just light myself on fire and walk out on the wire once again. Counting Crows, “Goodnight Elizabeth”

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies. “Shawshank Redemption”

Life is truly a ride. We’re all strapped in and no one can stop it. When the doctor slaps your behind, he’s ripping your ticket and away you go. As you make each passage from youth to adulthood to maturity, sometimes you put your arms up and scream, sometimes you just hang onto that bar in front of you. But the ride is the thing. I think the most you can hope for at the end of life is that your hair is messed, you’re out of breath, and you didn’t throw up. Jerry Seinfeld

Now, I’d like you to step forward over here. They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? Carpe…hear it?…Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary. John Keating, Dead Poets Society

Most of the important things in this world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. Dale Carnegie

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all. Emily Dickinson

I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be. But still, I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God, I am what I am. John Newton